FDA Official Quits Over Morning-After Pill Decision

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050831/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/morning_after_pill

The FDA on Friday postponed indefinitely its decision on whether to allow the morning-after pill, called Plan B, to sell without a prescription. The agency said it was safe for adults to use without a doctor's guidance but that young teenagers still needed a prescription and it couldn't determine how to enforce an age limit — a decision contrary to the advice of its own scientific advisers.

And so Susan Wood, Director of the FDA's Office on Women's Health, quit.

She noted that stores have no trouble proofing minors for the purchase of cigarettes, alcohol, R rated DVD's and video games.

The morning after pill has been available without prescription in Europe and Canada for a number of years.

The drug is 89% effective in preventing ovulation or fertilization if neither has occurred. It also works by preventing implantation, and therein lies the controversy.

It has no effect on a pregnancy that is already established.

Is the action by the FDA good or bad? (The morning after pill is FDA approved, regardless.)

Is the net effect of the morning after pill an increase or reduction in abortions? (Note that in many cases the pill prevents ovulation or fertilization, which would indicate it would reduce the number of abortions. But of those women for whom it prevented implantation, how many would actually have an abortion after a diagnosed pregnancy? 100% of them? 50% of them? None of them?)